Shambaugh said recent bank failures and developments were very different from those of the 2008 global financial crisis, which centered on credit risk, but regulators were working hard to shore up confidence in liquidity both at home and abroad.

Shambaugh, speaking at the Brookings Institution think tank ahead of this week's meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, said the overall financial system was also much better regulated, better capitalized and more liquid than during the earlier crisis.

He said U.S. officials would work closely with other countries to communicate about their policies and any spillovers that could materialize, and the impact on emerging markets and low-income countries, but said baseline forecast still called for continued growth in the global economy.

"Recent events have in some sense highlighted some of the downside risks that exist, but they haven't really fundamentally altered the overall picture of our baseline," he said.

Work will continue with international partners to increase financial resilience, he said, adding that recent events were a reminder to complete any unfinished regulatory business and "repair and fix any cracks in the regulatory perimeter."